Chapter 28 Inside and Outside

  Today's Joel Veterans Stadium was like a carnival, with everyone in a frenzy of shouting and performance, it was an immersive atmosphere that drove people crazy and made them unable to extricate themselves.

  Duncan came to the basket of University of Kentucky again, with a big black man behind him. The big black man looked very fat and a bit dull, but his body was very strong. After receiving the pass from his teammate, Duncan desperately pushed in two steps, which made his back feel a sharp pain.

  Although he was a bit weak due to a cold for the past two days, being able to force Duncan into this state in the NCAA is enough for Muhammad to be proud of. Kentucky's starting center for most of the season wasn't Muhammad but Popp, however, in this game, Kentucky's head coach Pitino started this team's main substitute, which also shows Pitino's trust in Muhammad's defensive abilities.

  Indeed, Muhammad did not disappoint Pitino's trust, and this game was a desperate struggle with Duncan. And it really dragged Duncan into the mud. In fact, Duncan didn't have to rank in the interior line at all, Duncan could pull out to the outside line to shoot, his free throw wasn't good didn't mean his basket wasn't good, but Duncan didn't do so, because now the outside line was already crowded enough, if even Duncan was afraid and gave up on the inside attack, then this game of Vicksburg would be over. This is Duncan's self-judgment on the court, tough and calm.

  "It's interesting, really interesting, I haven't sweated this much in a long time" Duncan muttered to himself, the beads of sweat on his face dripping onto the floor, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, Duncan exerted another burst of force, heavily leaning against Muhammad's body again. All Duncan heard was a muffled grunt from behind, Muhammad retreated half a step back, Duncan followed through with a half-turn, single-handedly hanging on to the rim for a dunk.

  Muhammad covered his painful chest and looked at Duncan with an incredulous face, this seemingly weak player's body was actually so sturdy, with such great strength.

  "It's too brutal" Steve Kerr, sitting on the Warriors' bench, looked at Muhammad with sympathy. He couldn't even withstand half of Duncan's strength during team training.

  "Muhammad has done enough, but Duncan is just too strong." Zhuang Fei thought to himself with a hint of excitement. Before crossing over, he had always thought that Duncan was a technical player, and many people would compare him to another top power forward Garnett, thinking that Garnett's physical strength and abilities were superior to Duncan's. Zhuang Fei had never seen Garnett before, nor did he know what kind of player Garnett was, but over the past half year or so, he had gained a good understanding of Duncan. Duncan was indeed a technical player, but his physical strength should not be underestimated either. Although he couldn't compare to some top power players, he was definitely not at a second-rate level.

  Anthony Walker was very happy today, in previous games other teams would always come up with various ways to defend him and limit him, and the head coach would always scold him for not being aggressive enough on defense. But that's all over now, the coach gave him the highest task of attacking, he can finally attack freely. Although he was frustrated by James Posey and P.J. Brown in the first quarter, in the second quarter, Rick Adelman sent James Posey to defend Derek Anderson, P.J. Brown to defend Dell, and his defender became Vince Carter.

  "With this height, you're still competing with me for the first small forward?" Anthony Walker looked at Carter disdainfully, then stretched out his hand and shot from beyond the three-point line.

  With a loud thud, the basketball slammed into the backboard and was grabbed by Duncan.

  "What a pity, I'll definitely make it next time," Anthony Walker thought with some regret. He turned around and left without looking back, treating Carter as if he were nothing.

  Carter was really depressed, nothing was more depressing than encountering Anthony Walker, 10 points shorter in height, and the opponent was still a shooting madman, how to defend this ball? However, since this was a task arranged by Zhuang Fei, he couldn't say anything, it's just that defending against Anthony Walker was really hard for him, at a disadvantage in terms of height and strength, fortunately, this Anthony Walker was too arrogant and didn't use his body to bully him, only shooting from the outside, and his hit rate wasn't high today either, which also made Carter feel a little relieved.

  "Hmph, you're quite arrogant, aren't you? Just wait till it's my turn to attack, I'll strike you down." Carter vowed silently.

  "That Chinese guy had Carter guard Walker, James Posey guard Anderson, and Bell guard Delfino. This was a very wise choice. Bell's man-to-man defense is great, just like sticky candy. Posey's defensive aggression is good, he and Anderson have similar styles, the two are still in a fierce battle now. The outcome of this game will be decided directly by Duncan, Walker, Carter, and McTiernan. From what we can see now, Duncan and McTiernan are the most stable scoring points. Walker loves to shoot too much, but considering that there is Duncan inside, Carter's height is not high either, the choice of shooting is not wrong, however, the hit rate today is really general. Carter is a lot smarter than Walker, and his scoring efficiency is also higher, this is also determined by the way they play. Carter tends to break through the inside line and then attack the basket. Now both teams are trapped in a star player single-play mode, which is good news for the Raptors, because their three-point offense this season has been encouraging stars to solve the game one-on-one. No one is more familiar with single-play than them."

  "The game has reached this stage, both teams have already played their trump cards, it's just a matter of how the players on both sides perform. The Chinese deliberately letting Walker go is now showing its effect, Walker is still struggling, and Vicksburg's score has already surpassed." Coach K sighed and said, as a professional coach, he naturally knows that the current situation is very favorable for Vicksburg, Kentucky's overall offense is too biased towards the outside, while Vicksburg is biased towards the inside. The one who gets the inside line wins everything, this is an unchanging truth. Coach K is somewhat regretful, Vicksburg is going to win again, even Kentucky can't resist Vicksburg. Is there anyone in the NCAA who can defeat them? Coach K is puzzled.

  "Coach Pitino switched to Poythress to strengthen the inside attack, but after being covered by Duncan twice, he also floated outside. Coach K looked at Kentucky head coach Pitino on the sidelines with a mixture of amusement and helplessness. Who else in the NCAA can stand alone under the basket like Duncan, covering the sky with one hand, and then let his teammates attack and press freely? VCU's entire offense and defense system is built around Duncan alone, and Coach K now hopes that Duncan will leave the NCAA as soon as possible."

  In Coach K's heart, he has never recognized Zhuang Fei. With such a record, he would attribute the credit to the players of Villanova, even if Zhuang Fei played a triangle tactic that was breathtakingly beautiful, even if Zhuang Fei played a full-court press that was airtight and aggressive, even if Zhuang Fei created a small lineup that shocked the league and made all of America sigh in amazement, he would still choose to selectively ignore these.

  ........

  ........

  "Mr. Zhuang, thank you so much!" Charles Paul looked at Zhu Fei with a grateful face, his emotions too excited to be expressed in words.

  He originally took his little son Chris to find Carter for an autograph, but unexpectedly, Zhu Fei saw Chris and not only let Carter sign it, but also let other people in the Vicksburg Forest sign it. Moreover, Zhu Fei himself wrote on Chris's jersey and gave it to future basketball superstar Chris Paul.

  Future basketball superstar? Charles hadn't thought of that, he thought it was just Zhuang Fei's encouragement, but Zhuang Fei's attitude made him happy, this Chinese man is a real gentleman.

  Watching Chris Paul and his family leave, Zhuang felt a little fluttered, the future NBA's first point guard actually looked at him with such an admiring gaze.

  "Zhuang, it seems you really like that little boy, and even wrote him a whole letter!" Just as Zhuang was floating on air, Mark Allen and Bill Lumb came over to Zhuang's side with the final four strong flags.

  All four NCAA semifinal teams will have a banner.

  "Haha, I didn't say anything wrong, want to make a bet?" Zhuang Fei said with a smile after coming back to his senses.

  Bill Ransom and Mark Allen exchanged a glance, made a bet, the bet was at least 10 years, who would play with you.

  Vicksburg won the game with some difficulty, 90-80, a margin of just 10 points. In the second quarter, after Zhuang Fei focused on defending Delke and Anderson, Walker's hand feeling was not good again, and finally let Kentucky lose a good game.

  This also allowed Zhuang Fei to lead the team into the NCAA Final Four for the first time in 34 years.

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